Syria

Kurds

Estimates of the number of Kurds in Syria vary widely, but
they are believed to compose about 9 percent of the population.
Although some Kurdish tribal groups have lived in the country for
generations, many arrived from Turkey between 1924 and 1938, when
Mustapha Kemal attempted to force his reform programs on the
Kurds there.

The Kurds are a fiercely independent tribal people who speak
their own language, Kirmanji. Living mainly in the broad,
mountainous region of northwestern Iran, eastern Turkey, and
northern Iraq, they are a cohesive people with intricate
intertribal ties and a deep pride in their own history and
traditions. Most Kurds are farmers; some are city dwellers; and
others are nomads who drive their flocks far into the mountains
in the summer and graze them on the lowlands in the winter.

Roughly 35 to 40 percent of the Kurds live in the foothills
of the Taurus Mountains north of Aleppo. An equal number live in
the Jazirah; about 10 percent in the vicinity of Jarabulus
northeast of Aleppo; and from 10 to 15 percent in the Hayy al
Akrad (Quarter of the Kurds) on the outskirts of Damascus.

Most Kurds are Sunni Muslims; a very small number are
Christians and Alawis. In addition, the Syrian
Yazidis (see Glossary), who speak Kirmanji, are
sometimes considered Kurds.
Numbering about 12,000, the Yazidis inhabit the Jabal Siman, west
of Aleppo; the Jabal al Akrad, north of Aleppo; and a few
villages south of Amuda and Jabal Abd al Aziz in the Jazirah.
Most of the Yazidis work the land for Muslim landowners.

Syria's Kurds are almost entirely settled, but they retain
much of their tribal organization. Although some groups in the
Jazirah are seminomadic, most are village dwellers who cultivate
wheat, barley, cotton, and rice. Urban Kurds engage in a number
of occupations, but not generally in commerce. Many are manual
laborers; some are employed as supervisors and foremen, a kind of
work that has come to be considered their specialty. There are
some Kurds in the civil service and the army, and a few have
attained high rank. Most of the small wealthy group of Kurds
derive their income from urban real estate.

Kurds who have left the more isolated villages and entered
Arab society have generally adopted the dress and customs of the
community in which they live. In the Jazirah, for example, many
have adopted beduin dress, live in tents, and are generally
indistinguishable from the beduin, except in speech. Most Kurds
speak both Kirmanji and Arabic, although others, particularly
those in Damascus, may speak only Arabic. Kurds who have entered
the country in the present generation usually retain much of the
language, dress, and customs of their native highlands.

For most Kurds, whether long established in Syria or recently
arrived, tribal loyalty is stronger than national loyalty to
either the Syrian state or to a Kurdish nation. They are
traditionally distrustful of any government, particularly that in
Damascus. However, relatively peaceful residence in Syria and
gradual assimilation have mitigated their distrust of Syrian
authorities.